EXCERPT: USDA’s Risk Management Agency is changing a rule that would exclude a farmer from buying prevented planting coverage in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota or South Dakota if a farmer hasn’t been able to plant and harvest a crop on the ground in at least one of the last four years.

EXCERPT: Many of the millions of people who turned to gardening to save money during the recession appear to be sticking with it during the recovery as food prices remain high and interest in safe, fresh and local food grows nationwide. Forty-three million American households planned to grow at least some of their own food in 2009, a 19 percent increase from the estimated 36 million who did the year before, said the National Gardening Association, citing the most recent figures available.

EXCERPT: For all the talk about sustainable agriculture, most small farms are not self-sustaining in a very basic sense: they can’t make ends meet financially without relying on income from jobs off the farm.But increasingly farmers are eking more money out of the land in ways beyond the traditional route of planting crops and raising livestock. Some have opened bed-and-breakfasts, often known as farm stays, that draw guests eager to get a taste of rural living. Others operate corn mazes — now jazzed up with modern fillips like maps on cellphones — that often turn into seasonal amusements, with rope courses and zip lines. Ranchers open their land to hunters or bring in guests to ride horses, dude ranch style.

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Beginning Farmers offers information on how to start a farm, planning a new farm, funding resources and finding land to start your farm on. We cover all areas of farming from raising chickens and goats to mushroom production, and urban farms to business farming. Internships and employment opportunities posted regularly.